Which of the following are part of the definition of socioeconomic status (ses)?

What should teachers understand in order to address student diversity in their classrooms?

Just as students will have varied cultural backgrounds, speak many languages, and have different learning needs, so too will they come from various socioeconomic levels. A family’s socioeconomic level or status (SES) is defined by the income, education, and occupation of members of the household. A family’s SES is typically categorized as either high, middle, or low. It is important for teachers to understand that a relationship exists between SES and educational outcomes, specifically:

Did You Know?

One in five school-aged students live in poverty. Dropout rates for children living in poverty have steadily increased even as national high school dropout rates have steadily declined.

• Students from low-SES families typically:
  • Achieve at lower levels than do students from middle- and high-SES families
  • Enter kindergarten with significantly lower language skills
  • Score at least 10% lower than the national average in mathematics and reading
• Students living in poverty are much more likely to be absent from school, which also affects their learning.
• Students of parents with higher educational levels and professional careers have stronger language skills than do students whose parents have lower educational levels because their parents speak to them more using enhanced vocabulary, longer sentences, direct and open-ended questions, questions that enhances higher-order thinking skills, and more encouraging statements.

Why SES Matters

Research shows that students from low-SES households face a variety of challenges that can lead to negative educational outcomes. Consider the story of Mark, a twelve-year-old sixth grader. He often falls asleep in class and does not turn in his homework on time. Lately, Mark seems confused about which bus to ride home. His teacher is concerned about Mark and is looking forward to discussing her concerns with his parents; however, after they do not attend their scheduled parent/ teacher conference, Mark’s teacher assumes that education is not a priority in his family. After several attempts to reach Mark’s parents, his teacher finally connects with his mom. Apologetically, Mark’s mother explains that she was unable to attend the conference because she had to work overtime. She has two part-time jobs, and Mark’s dad works the evening shift. Because of this, Mark has to care for his younger siblings, including cooking their dinner, bathing them, and putting them to bed. In addition, Mark and his family have had to move several times recently, which explains why Mark is sometimes uncertain about which bus to ride home.

Schools are often based around middle-class norms and values. Mark’s teacher made the assumption that Mark’s parents were home in the evenings and never considered that Mark, at such a young age, might have so many responsibilities, which contributed to inadequate sleep and incomplete homework. Like Mark, students from low-SES backgrounds might display behaviors that interfere with their ability to succeed in school. As Mark’s teacher did, school personnel sometimes assume that the student in question is unmotivated, lazy, or apathetic about school. Alternatively, they might think that the student has a disability that affects his learning or behavior. The graphic below lists some potential challenges that students face and the difficulties they might experience in class.

Potential Challenges for Students Related to Low SES
Having their basic needs met Few educational resources at home (e.g., books, computers) Less access to enrichment (e.g., tutors, museums) Limited access to transportation Reduced opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities at school or in the community Transiency or homelessness Poor nutrition	Inadequate healthcare Less help with homework Delayed language development Read to less frequently at home More responsibilities (e.g., childcare, cooking meals) because parents are working multiple jobs or longer hours Less supervision at home Fewer hours of sleep

Students Might Have Difficulty

Staying awake Concentrating Remaining engaged Attending school regularly Being on time to school Responding appropriately to authority figures Completing or turning in homework Bringing materials to class Communicating with others Performing on grade level Staying in school and graduating

Teachers should understand that students from low-SES backgrounds often have an independent mindset that can cause tension in the classroom. Listen as Lanette Waddell, former Director of Teaching and Learning in Urban Schools (TLUS), discusses this in more detail (time: 1:29).

Lanette Waddell, PhD
Former Assistant Professor, Former TLUS Director
Vanderbilt University

View Transcript

Transcript: Lanette Waddell, PhD

Urban students or poor students particularly grow up in a natural growth way. Their parents tend to be directive. They tend to tell them things to do. You know: “Go brush your teeth.” “Go set the table.” “Go wash the dishes.” It’s not a conversation. It’s mostly, let’s do this, let’s do that, let’s move forward. And students follow those directions because it’s their parents. But they also get a lot of free time where their free time is not structured. It’s open. They can do what they want. They make up their own games. They play. They do whatever they want. They also carry a lot of responsibility. They have to get up, make their own breakfast, wash their clothes, clean their house, take care of their siblings, get to school by themselves. They do a lot of independent work. So they come to school with a much more independent mindset than you would see with maybe suburban students who have mother at home and a father who works, or where there’s money so that there’s someone there taking care of them all the time. But it can cause some tension in school, because when you go to school then you’re told what to do. You’re told when to do this, and when you’re going to do that. You’re not independent in the way that you are at home, in your own personal decisions. When you think about students who are independent and are able to do what they want to do when they’re at home, and they are able to take care of themselves, and they bring that independence into school, you have to be able to understand that, but also let them know that we are in school with others and we have to follow certain procedures so that everyone is safe and everyone is comfortable and content here so that we can all learn.

Teachers should also understand the link between behavior and language skills. Students with strong language skills are better able to express their thoughts and feelings, explain or justify their needs, and negotiate with peers. Students with poor language skills more often resort to physical displays (i.e., grabbing) to express their needs or wants. An inability to explain displeasure with a friend or to find an acceptable compromise to a playground situation can result in pushing, shoving, or worse.

Listen as Dolores Battle discusses the relationship between language and behavior (time: 1:28).

Transcript: Dolores Battle, PhD

There’s a lot of emphasis recently on the relationship between language and social behavior, because language helps regulate behavior. If a child cannot ask a question for information, cannot use language to get what he wants and to help him in his interaction with others, he’s going to resort to using physical means. Or he’s going to be more inattentive. There’s a lot of children who are thought to be ADHD, for example, who turn out to have problems with language and comprehension. So when a child is not getting the information in a way that he can understand it, he’s going to lose focus, and he may not pay attention. He may then become more interested in the things that he can see. He may not ask for things. He may just simply take them. And that gets into some difficulty with social interactions in the classroom. So a lot of times those “behavior problems” are not so much behavior, but they are language problems. You see the behavior that is shown in very young children, where they reach and take or hit because they don’t know how to ask for things. You see that same behavior in an older child, and it’s called a behavior problem. In a younger child, it’s because the child hasn’t developed the skill, the language skills, to manipulate his environment. The first thing is to ask the question, “Why is this child doing this and under what circumstance?” It cannot be assumed that it’s just a behavior problem. Because it may be a language problem.

For Your Information

Students from high-poverty backgrounds share some of the same challenges regardless of where they live (e.g., rural area, urban, suburban development).

What Teachers Can Do

Of course, not all students from low-SES households face the same challenges or behave in the same manner. Teachers who have strong relationships with their students are better able to recognize those students’ needs. Nor are they alone in providing resources and support for these students. The teacher can turn to members of the school, many of whom have specific expertise (e.g., school counselor, social worker, school nurse, administrator) to help further identify a student’s basic needs and link them to resources and services. Many of these supports—for example, a clothing bank or school supplies—are provided by the school. In other cases, community agencies offer supports or services—for example flu shots, dental services, or vision and hearing screenings—at the school. Schools can also link students and families to community agencies and groups for support.

In addition to helping address some of these students’ fundamental needs, there are a number of ways teachers can help them to be successful in school. Although teachers should address the objectives in the table below for all students, they are especially critical for many students from low-SES households.

Critical because… An unstructured and poorly managed classroom is likely to increase anxiety for students who already have highly stressful lives.

Potential Actions

• Teach self-regulation strategies (e.g., self-monitoring)
• Provide predictable and consistent routines and schedules

Critical because… An unsafe environment without nurturing can lead students who come from stressful home environments to feel fearful or threatened, interfering with their learning.

Potential Actions

• Teach students how to handle strong emotions such as anger, fear, hurt, and tension
• Boost self-esteem and confidence in learning situations

Critical because… Students might not have access to educational resources and supports outside of school and so often lag behind in basic skills (e.g., language); therefore, teachers need to use evidence-based practices to maximize students’ learning.

Potential Actions

• Activate prior knowledge, making instruction relevant to their daily lives
• Increase language skills (e.g., by teaching vocabulary, using graphic organizers)
• Provide instruction in smaller chunks
• Provide rapid feedback

Critical because… These students might have low self-esteem and might not receive a lot of positive reinforcement in the home; therefore, teachers need to provide positive feedback to motivate and engage students. Because these students are often less engaged in school, teachers should build relationships with them to discover their strengths and interests so they can make learning relevant.

Potential Actions

• Provide extrinsic rewards (e.g., stickers, extra computer time)
• Provide more frequent praise (note: does not have to be related to a specific task)
• Incorporate students’ interests into instruction
• Include practical applications to help students understand how the content is related to their lives

Critical because… Students might not have access to resources (e.g., computers, library, quiet places to study, time) to adequately complete assignments; therefore, teachers need to be creative and flexible in helping students to access resources.

Potential Actions

• Be available to students before school, during, or after school to help with instructional needs
• Schedule time for students to access resources (e.g., library, computer) and to complete assignments.

Critical because… There is less parental involvement in schools among low-SES households due to factors such as work conflicts, limited or no childcare, lack of transportation, and negative personal school experiences. In addition, parents may feel disrespected, uncomfortable, or as if they have little or nothing to contribute to their child’s school. Therefore, teachers need to make the extra effort to build trusting relationships with parents, because the more parents participate, the better student achievement will be.

Potential Actions

• Find ways to reach families, particularly if they do not have a phone, speak English, or cannot read
• Schedule conferences at convenient times for parents
• Provide food and childcare while parent/ teacher conferences are being held
• Meet for conferences at community centers or other locations to increase attendance among families without transportation

Listen as Dolores Battle discusses the importance of language for developing literacy and what teachers can do to support students’ learning (time: 2:14).

Transcript: Dolores Battle, PhD

When the child comes in and this is his first exposure to school, one of the main considerations for the teacher is what has this child’s exposure been to pre-literacy? What kind of language goes on in the home? There’s a lot of studies that show that the lower the income, the lower the education of the parents, the less language the children are exposed to at home—less words, a smaller vocabulary, shorter sentences, less direct questioning, all of the things that contribute to a solid foundation for developing literacy in school. And we don’t want to assume that because the family is low income that they all have come into school with poor skills. The main point is to take a look at what the child brings to school, their background. It’s all about language. It’s knowing how to listen, how to understand the vocabulary, how to ask questions. Many children, at home they’re not allowed to ask questions, particularly for information, from their parents. They’re not allowed to initiate conversations with adults. And here they are in an interaction where they’re with a teacher who is an adult, and a strange adult as it is. So in those early years, it’s all about developing language skills, comprehension skills, and expression skills. So teachers need to be aware that you need to have that very firm foundation in language as a prerequisite for literacy. And if you fail to build that, the child will be forever behind. They need to do a lot of reading, developing vocabulary, making sure the children really understand what’s being read. Not just reading the book once, but sometimes it takes four and five times to read the book. Much as children do in a family where the book is read, the same book, every day for a month, for two months, because that becomes the child’s favorite book. All too often, classroom teachers think that once they’ve read the story then that’s enough. But if you’re going to develop a basis of literacy then it has to follow that same rule, where children get the information. They learn to ask questions about it. They learn to predict what’s going to happen, all of which happens in homes where literacy is developed early. That same process has to follow if children who are entering into school who don’t have that foundation.

Activity

Three weeks into the school year, Mrs. Arellano, a tenth-grade English teacher in an urban high school, is frustrated that many of her students are still without the required materials, which cost less than $10.

Because of this, her lessons are frequently disrupted as students try to borrow materials from their classmates. Many of the students claim that they don’t have the money to buy the items. Although she knows that many of them qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, Mrs. Arellano wonders how her students can afford expensive tennis shoes and mobile devices, and she doesn’t understand how their families justify buying these expensive items instead of basic school supplies.

What are your perceptions about the students in the scenario? How would you handle the fact that the students don’t have the required materials?

In the first audio, Richard Milner provides some insights into this situation and then in the second audio he discusses how teachers might address similar circumstances.

H. Richard Milner IV, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning
Vanderbilt University

Transcript: H. Richard Milner IV, PhD (Insights)

I think this is a very important scenario, and it speaks to what many teachers experience. One of the things that’s critical for students to participate in the educational experiences, to participate in interactions with their friends and classmates is for them to feel good about who they are. And so sometimes that means that students might feel like they have to have the latest fashion, the newest tennis shoes or the latest polo shirt or whatever it happens to be. But what’s important to remember is that students are doing that because they want to feel good about themselves. I’ve studied suburban schools. I’ve done work in rural areas. I’ve done a lot of my work in urban spaces. And what we find is that students are grappling with identity issues in all of those spaces. And the ways in which students respond to pressures that they are grappling with—whether it be academic, whether it be in a relationship with a friend or a classmate—they respond to those pressures in different ways.

And so some students might go and do drugs. Some students might stop going to class. Other students might purchase materials—technology, clothes, shoes—that we might see as marginal to what matters in terms of their development. The big piece is that students are grappling with very difficult situations in different contexts, and students’ or parents’ decision to have their children purchase clothing items or shoes is just one form of working on that identity piece.

Transcript: H. Richard Milner IV, PhD (Addressing the issue)

Some students are more school-dependent than are other students, and so the school really has to play the vital role of being responsive to the economic and the educational needs of students. On a structural level, this goes beyond the teacher’s classroom. I think the school should be responsible for making sure that students have what they need to be successful. The second thing is, if students understand the necessity for them to be actively involved in what’s happening in the classroom and that it’s necessary for them to spend money on resources to be successful, then that’s part of the work that I think needs to take place in an explicit way with the teacher helping students understand why she is pushing them to spend resources on school-related materials rather than on shoes or clothing or whatever that happens to be. But in order for those kinds of conversations to happen, the teacher has to develop solid and sustainable relationships with those students. If the teacher has not developed solid relationships such that she can say, “Listen, guys, I want you to be successful. I care about you, and I really wish you would put your emphasis on a your academic development rather than worrying about how you look or the kinds of shoes you wear and those kinds of things.”

Now in order for her to do that that means she’s going to have to counter so many things the students have come to believe about themselves and really engaging in conversations and listening to students in terms of why they choose to spend money on clothing or shoes rather than on resources for the classroom. And I think that’s done also in consultation with parents as well. The ability of this teacher to talk with and empathize with the parents is also important so that the teacher and the parents can partner together around what is important. I think the thing that would do more harm than good is for the teacher to go in in a judgmental way with parents about why the parents are making the decisions they are making. So it really has to be a partnership, you know: “I care about your child. I want him or her to be successful. Here’s what you can do to help me with that. Now, I’m open as a teacher to hear what things I can do to complement and supplement what’s necessary for your child to be successful as well.”

How is socioeconomic status SES defined?

What are the three components of SES?

What are the three components of socioeconomic status SES?

What are the 4 types of socio economic factors?